RareCollections: Australian Surf Soundtracks

By Jordie Kilby and David Kilby

In the late 1960's and early 1970's Australian surf culture was a hot bed of creativity. Board riders were tackling waves in new ways, film makers like Paul Witzig and Alby Falzon were experimenting with techniques for presenting the action on film and Aussie bands like Tamam Shud and Tully were crafting sublime soundtracks to it all. This episode of RareCollections features interviews with Paul Witzig, Sven Libaek, Richard Lockwood and G. Wayne Thomas.

The Sunsets were a Newcastle based band featuring future Tamam Shud member Lindsay Bjerre. They met filmmaker Paul Witzig via a mutual friend who ran surf film screenings in the city. The band initially provided a theme song for Witzig's 1966 film "A Life In The Sun" which met with some minor success around Sydney and was modelled around the Sandals theme for the Bruce Browne film Endless Summer. Hot Generation was the theme for his next film and saw a more exciting original sound.

In The Wave - Sven Libaek - Festival - 1967

To Ride A White Horse was made by surfer Bob Evans and featured a completely different soundtrack to the other films being made around this period. In 1966 Sven Libaek created the soundtrack for a TV series titles Nature Walkabout which featured footage shot by Carol and Vince Serventi during a trip across Australia. Drawing on his considerable skill in producing music that was evocative of Australian landscapes Libaek went about scoring the film with a blend of orchestral, jazz and pop arrangements featuring some of Australia's finest jazz men including Don Burrows, George Golla and John Sangster.

Music Train - Tamam Shud - CBS - 1969

The Sunsets had evolved into Tamam Shud by the time the soundtrack for the groundbreaking film "Evolution" was recorded. Playing with the production techniques filmmaker Paul Witzig decided to dispense with the narratives that had been a part of surf movies until this point. This bought the soundtrack to the fore and gave the band more creative space to play with. Rising to the challenge Shud laid down one of the most loved soundtracks of the period. Screenings of the film with the band in attendance were popular events up and down the coast around this time.

Sea Of Joy Pt 1 - Tully - Harvest - 1972

Tully's first album was released in 1970 and featured some powerful progressive psychedelic rock. Before that the band had made a name for themselves while playing in the first Australian production of Hair. Paul Witzig was a fan of the group and was keen to use them for the soundtrack for his next film Sea Of Joy, however in between seeing them play live and their invitation to submit tracks for the film the band underwent some significant changes in both personnel and sound. The resulting soundtrack is a mellow, but in the end, successful affair. Interestingly none of the band were surfers themselves but all shared a love of the natural beauty abundant on Australia's coastlines.

Morning Of The Earth - G. Wayne Thomas - Warner Brothers - 1974

The most successful soundtrack of the period was put together by singer and producer G. Wayne Thomas. It differed from its predecessors by offering a variety of musical acts instead of sticking with a single group. Featured on the soundtrack were regulars like Tamam Shud alongside Brian Cadd and John J. Francis. Thomas added a few of his own including the title track. It was the first film Australian soundtrack to achieve "Gold" sales status.